The Culture of Disbelief: How American Law and Politics Trivialize Religious Devotion [Hardcover]

Stephen L. Carter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1993

Written by the author of "Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby", this book argues that in America's zeal to keep religion out of politics, it has forced the religiously devout to act as if their faith doesn't really matter. Stephen Carter takes on the conventional wisdom that to secure religious freedom we must keep religion out of the public realm. Carter uses liberal means to arrive at what are often considered conservative ends. A firm believer in the separation of church and state (just as he endorses some forms of affirmative action), he argues that it is possible, even vital, to maintain that separation without trivializing religious belief or treating religious believers with disdain. A wide range of issues appear in a new light - from religion in schools to Moonie weddings, from abortion to the Clarence Thomas hearings.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As in his previous book on race ( Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby ), Yale law professor Carter offers a thoughful, cogent and ideologically subtle analysis of a divisive American issue. A deep believer "in the importance of both religious tradition and liberal dialogue," Carter here suggests ways to maintain both. Our culture, he stresses, pressures people to "treat religion as a hobby" while the use of religion for political ends has further debased it. Criticizing Supreme Court decisions concerning the separation of church and state as enforcing "public secularism," he argues for granting religious groups more latitude to participate in the welfare state, allowing proven church drug rehabilitation programs, for example, to compete for public funding. Carter does, however, reject organized prayer in public schools for fear of advancing "the interests of one religious tradition over another." He suggests religious dialogue should be part of the debate over euthanasia and abortion and that pro-choicers would do better to argue positive constitutional rights rather than demeaning their opponents as "zealots." In a postscript written after the events at Waco, Tex., Carter cautions that "we must not make the mistake of confusing the Branch Davidians' sinfulness with their religiosity . . . Otherwise, the putative 'fanaticism' of the Davidians becomes virtually indistinguishable from the 'fanaticism' of Martin Luther King Jr."
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Carter, a professor of law at Yale University and author of the acclaimed Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby ( LJ 9/15/91), advances the thesis that American law and politics "trivialize" religion by forcing the religiously faithful to subordinate their personal views to a public faith largely devoid of religion. Carter argues that religious faith can and must be a significant element of our public life, even as we affirm the importance of the separation of church and state. He accepts the place of prayer in education and in developing family values, and he questions accepted public policy in matters such as abortion, euthanasia, and capital punishment. As with Carter's earlier book, which questioned the utility of racial preferences, this book can be used in helping us examine accepted views. For another opinion, the careful reader might want to consider E. Forrester Church's God and Other Famous Liberals: Reclaiming the Politics of America (S. & S., 1991).
- Jerry E. Stephens, U.S. Court of Appeals Lib., Oklahoma City
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (August 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465026478
• ISBN-13: 978-0465026470
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #753,464 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Polemic, April 20, 2000

By 

R. Albin (Ann Arbor, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Culture of Disbelief (Paperback)

This is a well written attack on the treatment of religion in American political and legal life. Carter attempts to show that religous motivations are disparaged in many aspects of American public life. He is particularly concerned with convincing individuals with liberal political views that religious motivations, per se, are not harmful or irrational. Carter's points are not, however, aimed solely at a liberal audience. He attacks our legal system, including the Supreme Court, for inadequate defense of minor religions, and excoriates conservative Christians for justifying a highly partisan political agenda. To Carter, religons function best as mediators between individuals and government and he sees them as essential components of civil society. He sees religions as carrying forward this function best when acting in a dissenting mode, such as abolitionism, the Civil Rights Movement, and the anti-abortion movement. One difficulty with this book is that it is relatively brief. This allows Carter to make a number of points in a relatively short text and Carter's writing is never curt. The defect is that a number of important issues receive somewhat unsatisfactory treatment. I was unconvinced, for example, by some of his treatment of creationism as an "alternative hermeneutic". Several of the topics in this book really deserve longer discussion. Still, this book was written to provoke thought and it is very successful in that respect. It is important to note that this is not a defense of conservative Christian views a al Pat Robertson. Carter is deeply religous (Episcopalian, not Catholic as stated in one of the reviews below) and rather liberal in his political beliefs.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Society, Religion, and Spiritual Ambiguity, June 12, 2002

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Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Culture of Disbelief (Paperback)

I found this to be an especially thought-provoking, at times unsettling book to read. Carter has obviously given a great deal of careful thought to the important issues he addresses. For example, he is deeply concerned about what he views as a deterioration of spirituality in American society. Ours is perhaps the most democratic of all capitalistic cultures, ensuring strict separation of church and state as well as the right to embrace any religion (or none). Carter fully supports that separation and indicates zero-tolerance of threats to that right. However, he repudiates efforts by those among the national media with a strong liberal bias who trivialize basic values which are, in fact, common to all of the world's major religions. He asserts that these values should guide and inform national policy (not the other way around), just as they once did when thirteen colonies declared war on the most powerful nation in the world and then reaffirmed the same values 12 years later in the new nation's Constitution and Bill of Rights.

In Christianity on Trial, Vincent Carroll and David Shiflett provide both a broad overview and a close analysis of various accusations against the Christian church over the centuries. Many of these accusations were valid; others were not. However, undeniably, the Hellenic-Hebraic values of Christianity are inextricably bound up in the fabric of American legal as well as political and social history. It's hard for me to believe but it has been more 40 years since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his associates began their efforts to achieve full and unqualified human rights for all Americans. Carter is hardly alone when asking "What has been accomplished since then? What remains to be done?" Not all readers will agree with the answers he has formulated, at least thus far, but I think everyone who reads this book will be much better prepared to consider basic issues which transcend legality in pursuit of justice, which transcend consensus in pursuit of fundamental human decency.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent read from cover to cover., September 22, 1999

By 

zee1 "zee1" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Culture of Disbelief (Paperback)

While not possessing the wonderful immediacy of his masterpiece, "Civility", Dr. Carter's "The Culture of Disbelief" very artfully highlights an often latent national sentiment. Characteristically referenced meticulously, Carter cites specific instances, modern and historical, of the trivialization of religiousness to support virtually every statement he makes. At the same time, he maintains an easy and accessible style that transitions smoothly from the casual to the sobering. Carter attempts to inject an urgent tone at some points, and while reading one may find oneself nodding along in agreement, but the galvanic effect of "Civility" was not present. Nonetheless, an excellent read from cover to cover.